Returnees from Myanmar account for 9 of 17 new Covid infections today

Santa Claus isn’t at the North Pole this year. He’s in Northern Thailand. And he’s not with elves. He’s mixing in with some of Thailand’s beloved elephants. Don’t believe it? Give him a Zoom call.

Zoom calls on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with “Santa & his Elves” are offered by the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort and the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation.

Zoom calls with Santa and his elephant friends are limited, and pricey! The effort is intended to raise money for the program which ethically cares for elephants that were formerly in the entertainment business. The reservation for a 20 minute call requires a $2,500 USD donation.

Those interested in supporting the elephant program can make a donation. “Elephant trunk calls” are also available during the coming year, but Santa won’t be around after Christmas.

The resort’s director of sustainability and conservation, John Roberts, says it costs $18,000 USD a year to feed just 1 elephant. A $20 donation feeds an elephant for one day.

“Since the start of the national lockdown in Thailand in March, we have taken in three elephants and their mahouts. The COVID-19 elephant refugees, whose camps were unable to care for them and would ultimately have left them unfriended and unfed, are now matched with friendship groups and, of course, have their own diet plan.”

To make a donation to the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, click HERE.

SOURCE: Travel and Leisure

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Officials in the northern province of Chiang Rai are assuring potential tourists from the rest of the Kingdom that it is safe to visit, saying the Covid-19 situation is under control. Chiang Rai hit the headlines in recent weeks, when a number of Thai nationals entered the province illegally from Myanmar. After bypassing health checks and quarantine, several subsequently tested positive for the virus, resulting in a handful of local infections.

Now deputy provincial governor, Worawit Chaisawat, is anxious to assure the rest of the country that the situation has been brought under control. He says the province has recorded no new local cases since the beginning of December. The only new infections in the province are imported cases brought in by those returning through the proper channels and entering state quarantine.

Around 180 Thai nationals are thought to have been employed at the 1G1-7 Hotel in the Burmese border town of Tachileik. Some media reports and claims from local residents say the 100 room, 4 storey hotel was used as a centre for prostitution. It became a hotbed of Covid-19 infections, causing much of its Thai workforce to flee, crossing back into Thailand illegally. Worawit says the resulting mini-outbreak of infections has now been brought under control and those who visit the province are not required to quarantine on their return home.

“We need to spread the word that there are no new infections in Chiang Rai. Visitors do not need to quarantine, and they are welcome to travel here. A flora festival is coming.”

The Bangkok Post reports that yesterday, the province recorded 6 new cases of the virus, all in state quarantine. All are believed to have arrived from Tachileik. Thailand recorded a total of 28 new cases yesterday, including 1 case of local transmission in a Bangkok nurse who had close contact with a Covid-19 patient.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

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Despite a recent spike in Covid-19 local infections in northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, authorities are axing the requirement for a 14 day quarantine for tourists who have returned from those areas back to other parts of Thailand. Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, the spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, scotched the rumours of some businesses claiming that such tourists would have to undergo self-isolation when returning from those areas.

“These companies made announcements in response to the discovery of new coronavirus cases, but we have not concluded on whether tourists must undergo 14 days quarantine or not.”

“However, people who are travelling in these provinces must take care of themselves, such as by wearing a face mask and washing hands regularly.”

The spike in local infections, came about after several Thai woman returned from Myanmar undetected, and skipped any sort of quarantine. 38 people have now tested positive for Covid-19, placing others around them at risk. They had all returned from the now notorious Myanmar 1G1-7 Hotel, in Tachileik, a border town. The establishment is known for employing sex workers, and recently becoming the centre of a Covid outbreak that has seen 38 local cases of Covid after such Thais have returned from the town, skirting quarantine requirements.

Dr Prasit Watanapa from the Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital says the coronavirus currently circulating in Myanmar is a different strain and is being transmitted 20% faster than the one detected in Wuhan at the start of the pandemic.

As of yesterday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand has increased to 4,192, with 217 being hospitalised, 3,915 being listed as recovered and discharged, while 60 have succumbed to the deadly virus.

SOURCE: The Nation

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